News

Monday, July 27th - The advanced program for the final installment of the 2026 UIM Aquabike European Continental Championship taking place in Vichy, France, has been published. All twelve racing categories will have their final showdown in the French town on September 4-6.

Following Pierre-Francois Savelli’s shock win at the Grand Prix of Hungary, the race for the Runabout GP1 title remains wide open. Current European Champion Jeremy Perez maintains his lead in the standings on 131 points, with Savelli not far behind on 118 points. Should Perez’s engine issues re-emerge in Vichy, then it will provide Savelli his best chance yet to claim a maiden title win.

Similarly, in Ski Ladies GP1 unexpectedly poor results from previous Championship leader Estelle Poret mean the Championship title will go right to the wire. Poret had a perfect start to the season in Mira, winning all the Motos to pick up the full 75 points on offer, but persistent problems in Gyor saw her only pick up an additional 16 points to bring her total to 91. This puts the current World Champion far behind current leader in the standings Benedicte Drange, whose flawless performance in Hungary brought her points tally to 134. By coming second in all three Motos in Gyor, current European Champion Jessica Chavanne kept her hopes of retaining her title alive, as she currently sits in second place in the standings on 118 points.

Meanwhile, in Ski GP1 Quinten Bossche has had a flawless campaign so far, winning every Moto to pick up the full 150 points available. He therefore goes to Vichy as the firm favourite, although victory for the Belgian is by no means assured given his history last season of suffering from problems with his bike. This keeps the hopes of Valentin Dardillat and Alec Enderli alive who, on 124 and 89 points respectively, are the only other riders still mathematically in the running for the Ski GP1 title.

With many of the other nine categories that will race in Vichy still all to play for, the final Grand Prix of the 2026 European calendar is set to be a highly contested affair. The paddock opens on Thursday, September 3, with rider registrations closing that day at 7pm local time. On-water action commences the following day, and the 2026 European Continental Championship comes to a close on the evening of Sunday, September 6 with a prize giving ceremony at 6.30pm where the year’s winners will be crowned.